Bukayo Saka addresses Arsenal's dip in form as dressing room feelings emerge
by Richard Cusack, John Cross · football.londonBukayo Saka stands defiant amid Arsenal's challenging week, believing silverware is still within reach this season despite recent setbacks. In a critical stretch for the Gunners with a midweek clash against Inter Milan at San Siro and a weekend matchup at Chelsea following suit, they find themselves trailing in the title race and adjusting to the departure of sporting director Edu.
Despite these trials and three games without a Premier League victory, England winger Saka maintains that the team's confidence isn't shaken, reports the Mirror. Wearing the captain's armband in Martin Odegaard's injury absence, Saka expressed his unwavering confidence: "For me, I always live by the quote, it's not what you see, it's what you believe."
Despite acknowledging the 'noise' surrounding Arsenal after a string of unfavourable results, Saka emphasised the importance of calmness and focus within the squad: "If you look at our squad, the quality we have, the players we have and at the same time we're only in November so I don't think I've lost any belief, I don't think anyone will change it if I have to. "Obviously there's a lot of noise around the club and we lost two games and drew another one."
Continuing on this note of resilience, he shared his approach to ensuring stability amid external pressures, adding: "But at the same time it's important to stay calm and doing all of these things can at the same time create more calm. We don't want to create any panic and chaos and I don't think we need that right now." "So I'm just doing my best to help the team in every way I can and if I need to do that I'll do that for sure."
Arsenal have enjoyed life in the Champions League so far this season. The Gunners have kickstarted their Euro run with a promising two victories and a tie, and now they are set for the glamorous face-off with Inter Milan.
For Saka, such high-profile matches are what fuels his passion for football. "For me, these big games, there's always a big atmosphere, there's always a lot of pressure, a lot of intensity and for me I feel it brings the best out of me, so I'm looking forward to it," he added.
The Arsenal winger is keen to maintain the squad's impressive form stating: "We have a very good record and we're unbeaten. We're going to look to keep that record tomorrow night and that's all we can really do." With his increasing influence on the pitch, epitomised by his role as part of England's leadership group and occasional captaincy duty at Arsenal in Martin Odegaard's absence, Saka acknowledges the pride he feels in this position: "I'm just part of the leadership group and I wear the captain's armband when Martin is not around and he's back now which is going to be a big boost for us. But when I do have the armband on me, I'd say I'm more of a lead by example kind of guy."
"But at the same time there's a responsibility to talk sometimes and in the team talks I have to be the one to speak up as well and I do my part in that as well."
Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel
Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!
By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.
To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!
If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.